Bearing alloy



Patented June 17, 1941 UNITED STATES BEARING ALLOY Ernest R. Darby, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Federal-Mogul Corporation, Detroit, Mich" a corporation of Michigan No Drawing. Application December 15, 1939, Serial No. 309,473

3 Claims.

My invention relates to hearing alloys. It has to do, particularly, with a copper-base alloy containing lead and a means for retarding the corrosive influence to which an alloy may be subjected by the use of certain oils. It is especially 5 applicable to alloys for use in bearings designed for automobile service, although it is not necessarily limited thereto.

In the prior art, considerable difliculty has been involved in the production of copper-base alloys containing lead for use in bearings for automobiles and internal combustion engines, due to the fact that certain oils used in engines of this type have a corrosive influence on the copper lead alloy and particularly on the lead content thereof.

Some efiort has been made to overcome this by incorporating in the alloy the element indium in percentages which are small but which appear to materially offset the corrosion which arises with such oils. One method of accomplishing this has been the production of a bearing with a backing of steel or other strong suitable metal and with the copper-lead alloy applied thereto, followed by the plating of indium onto the said copperlead lining of the bearing. This has certain drawbacks. One of these drawbacks is the direct and indirect expense of the plating. In this -method of operation, the electroplating of the indium onto the lead must be followed by several rinsing operations and each operation must be followed by some methodfor the recovery of the indium which is comparatively expensive and a should not be wasted. These recovery operations necessarily involve labor and expense. As a result, the use of these bearings has been considerably limited.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a copper-base alloy containing lead and also containing a suificient amount of indium to ofiset the corrosive influence of the said oils without involving the expense that has previously been involved in the making of such alloys and the bearings therefrom.

Another object of this invention is to provide a bearing alloy containing indium and a bearing produced therefrom wherein the labor previous1y required in the making of such alloys and bearings is greatly reduced.

This invention consists primarily in the provision of a bearing alloy which has a copper base 5 and which has lead particles contained therein with such lead particles impregnated with a sufflcient quantity of indium to largely oilset the corrosive influences of the oils to which it is likely to be subjected. Various methods might be used to accomplish this. It is possible to electroplate the indium onto the lead particles and follow this by introducing the indium-plated lead particles into a copper acetate bath in order to bring about a plating of copper onto the indiumplated lead particles. It is also possible to plate the lead onto indium particles and to follow this operation by plating the copper onto the leadimpregnated indium particles by the use of a copper acetate solution. Electroplating of the copper may be performed in any of the customary manners. I

Another method of producing the alloy in question is to provide a wire drawn from a casting containing a major portion of lead and the required amount of indium and to then atomize such wire in a standard metallizlng gun discharging atomized particles into a receptacle containing water. Tests have shown that the indiumlead powder which is formed as a result of this operation settles very quickly and. after a large amount of the water has been decanted off, the wet alloy powder can be dried oil by the usual means, as in an ordinary enamel stewpan on an electric stove.

Experience has shown'that the indium is effective to offset the corrosive influences of the oils in question, provided it is present in the lead powder in percentages ranging from .10 per cent to .50 per cent and, owing to the cost of indium at the present market, it is desirable that the percentages thereof'be limited as much as possible. Under present conditions, the indications are that the best alloy of lead and indium for the purpose intended is one containing about .5 per cent indium with the remainder lead. When such an alloy is produced in granular form and thereafter plated with copper, it makes possible the formation of a bearing lining which has superior resistance to the corrosion by those oils which are particularly harmful to bearing alloys containing lead.

After the alloy is made, it can be applied to a backing of any selected material in any of the- (der to the backing" v of my invention to; apply ,a-copper-lead-indium bring about a sinterlng and bonding of the powt is also within the scope powder to various other types of backing, such as bronze backing or other metals having the characteristics commonly considered to in the rnaking:v of bearings.

It will beseen from the -above that i have provided a bearing alloy and a bearing which embodies such alloy which not only has superior resistance to corrosion by those oils which are likely to be detrimental in bearings, particularly in automotive engines, .but. that this alloy can be produced economically and efliciently. This is particularly true in comparison with bearings that are made by the prior art practice 01 applying a copper-lead bearingliner to a backing and then electroplating indium) onto the copper-lead be necessary liner after machining to required dimensions and diffusing the said layer into the bearing liner by heat.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

'1. A copper-base bearing lining composition comprising copper and particles consisting substantially of lead combined with a minor amount 

